“The Chief seems quite competent with or without a pair.” Noah raised his eyebrows, hinting to Hastings that he should drop this line of inquiry.
“Yeah, makes me miss McClunis,” Hastings said. “She’s the hardest working of all the battalion chiefs.”
“I miss her too. She keeps me on my toes.” Noah returned to the subject at hand. “Since I don’t have a candidate for the Battalion Chief of Rescue Alpha, I assume you have a suggestion.”
“Yes. I think Cordova needs a decrease in his duties. He should spend the next several weeks strictly on Rescue Alpha—personnel, shifts, response times, survival rates. Get it right the first time.”
Noah suspected he would not like where this was going. “And?”
“He should stop touring firehouses and have a home base for the next two or three months. You and Tammaro can divide his visits by covering an extra ten firehouses each.”
“Did Maurice agree to this?” Noah suspected his other assistant chief, Maurice Tammaro, had. He was a relatively easygoing guy, though not as detail oriented as Noah would have preferred. Hence why Cordova ended up overseeing Rescue Alpha.
Hastings smiled. “He did.”
“You do realize I am Fire Chief and Chief of Battalion 2 already?”
“You volunteer to cover Battalion 2?” Alan said, all innocence. “You probably want to see the new firehouses for yourself too.”
Rather than bite Hastings, Noah suppressed his annoyance. Hastings had almost certainly worked the numbers already. “I’ll see if I can work it into my schedule.”
“Let me know.” Hastings departed, still smiling.
Fabulous. Exactly what Noah needed. More work.
He stood by the map of the sixty firehouses in CCFD and surveyed the possibilities. This wasn’t fair. Not only was McClunis out in Battalion 2, but Haskell would be out soon for the new baby. Noah was planning the Firefighter Ball and would soon be pursued by photographers for the Sexiest Overworked Fire Chief in Cuyahoga County.
No. Hastings wouldn’t have floated this idea if it couldn’t be done. He supported Noah’s vision and approved every piece of equipment, personnel, and paperclip that came through the department. Operations was a misnomer since Hastings’s job included the massive amount of logistics too, which was why he always wanted another aide.
In exchange, he typically presented Noah with options and hoped Noah would come to the best conclusion. Alan’d never be condescending to his superior, but he wasn’t above letting his chief figure out things himself. If Noah got stuck and asked for help, Hastings would give it, chuckling all the way.
After a few minutes, Noah had it. He’d do something selfish. Since he was acting Battalion Chief of 2, he opened the shift schedule. Williams had efficiently scheduled his firehouse three months out. Noah made a notation on a blank calendar every time A-shift was working and his own call schedule. The Fire Chief’s call was both heavy and light. The battalion chiefs absorbed McClunis’s and Haskell’s calls, so Noah ended up on call twice a month, but still had to be available for high profile events.
He sent an email to Williams, instructing him to reorganize his battalion tours by distance rather than than numerical designation. For good measure, he put a note about which days he wanted a lighter schedule. It was unlikely that Williams would note his lightest work days were Erin’s days off. Nor would he notice that Noah requested his visit to Firehouse 15 be scheduled on one of those light days.
It was possible he was being presumptuous, but he wanted to explore things with Erin. Past experience had taught him that women expected partners to be around and available occasionally. He could guarantee his new relationship had zero chance of survival if he didn’t see her.
Even better, he could schedule his future calls on days when she was post-shift. It would decrease the possibilities of being put in a position where he had to order her into danger. During the high-rise, her assignment had been determined by the battalion chiefs, not Noah. Their jobs would be in less conflict if they didn’t work together.
With that thorny problem partially solved, it was time for more solutions. He sent an email to Fitzpatrick, informing her she had a twenty-four-hour window to get her photos and interview done on a day in mid-November when he was at the office and not traveling.
There were days when Noah didn’t believe this was his life. Almost forty and chained to a desk. He envied his firefighters for the straight simplicity of their jobs.
See fire. Put out fire.
Then again, he had the hopes of the city, the hospital system, two thousand firefighters, and his three hundred or so support staff on his shoulders. He couldn’t let them down.
At least he had something to look forward to outside of work.
Chapter 24
The crew from Firehouse 15 stared upward. Four elementary schoolboys, each dressed as Spider-Man, were stuck up in trees at Harmody Park. The kids had climbed up a good thirty plus feet, and two of them had stopped on pretty spindly branches.
Captain Williams yelled, “This is Captain Williams from the fire department. Please stay where you are. We are going to get you down. Do not move from your branch unless instructed.”
“How’d they get up there?” Kevin wondered. The children had traveled off the path into the underbrush before selecting trees. Unfortunately, there was a hundred feet and multiple trees blocking Ladder 15 from getting closer.
“Climbed,” Luna observed. “Tried out their costumes before the parade at school.”
